NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 24: Matt Moore #55 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 24, 2013 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Rays defeated the Yankees 7-0. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Photo: Mike Stobe, Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 24: Matt Moore #55 of the Tampa Bay Rays...

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Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin pitches to a Kansas City Royals batter during the first inning of an exhibition spring training baseball game Wednesday, March 5, 2014, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Photo: Gregory Bull, Associated Press

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin pitches to a...

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Tim Hudson attributes his longevity, in part, to not pitching before his junior year of high school. He had elbow surgery in 2008.

Photo: Dilip Vishwanat, Getty Images

Tim Hudson attributes his longevity, in part, to not pitching...

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ST PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 25: Pitcher Matt Moore #55 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the game at Tropicana Field on June 25, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

Photo: J. Meric, Getty Images

ST PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 25: Pitcher Matt Moore #55 of the Tampa...

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Oakland Athletics starting pitcher A.J. Griffin walks back to the mount after giving up the third run against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning of a spring training baseball game in Scottsdale, Ariz., Saturday, March 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Photo: Chris Carlson, Associated Press

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher A.J. Griffin walks back to the...

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NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 07: Matt Harvey #33 of the New York Mets pitches in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on August 7, 2013 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Photo: Mike Stobe, Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 07: Matt Harvey #33 of the New York Mets...

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New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey (33) throws against the San Francisco Giants of a baseball game in San Francisco, Monday, July 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey (33) throws against the San...

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Jose Fernandez #16 of the Miami Marlins pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park May 9, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

It's not just bad for business to have hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of arms on the disabled list, but it's also a nasty trend that threatens the health and livelihoods of pitchers throughout the majors and others rising through the ranks.

So what's being done?

"This is just the tip of the iceberg, in my opinion. It just happens too much," said Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt, adding that Major League Baseball "needs to put together a study to educate Little League, high school and college-level coaches on taking care of their kids a little more.

"Get doctors together. What are their studies? We've got to monitor the wear and tear. The guys who had Tommy John, how much did they pitch as kids? How can kids minimize wear and tear? What are the suggestions?"

They're apparently coming.

Dr. Gary Green of UCLA, MLB's medical director and head of its medical advisory committee, was assigned by Commissioner Bud Selig to find answers. He said in a phone interview that Selig "made this a priority and said do what you need to do to find answers."

In a perfect world, Green would deliver a cure-all that keeps young pitchers, who believe their success is tied to how hard and how often they throw, free of extreme elbow stress that eventually leads to the surgeries.

"We want to ultimately find a cause and hopefully prevention strategy as well. It's probably going to end up being multiple factors, not one size fits all. It's a complex problem that probably requires a complex solution," said Green, who's communicating with a team of experts, in and out of baseball.

As for when he'll find answers, Green said, "That's a great question. The way the research goes, you answer one question and that gives you three more questions. I wish I could say in a year we'd have an answer. I'd like to say sooner. But I can't give you a timetable on that. That's the nature of research."

Dr. James Andrews, one of the world's leading sports orthopedists and renowned for conducting Tommy John surgeries, released a position paper independent of MLB in late May concluding many pro pitchers' torn ulnar collateral ligaments were actually initialized when they were adolescent amateurs.

Through his American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala., Andrews concluded competitive year-round pitching in travel ball is a cause of the injuries, along with pitching while fatigued, bad mechanics and poor conditioning. He provided nine recommendations for pro pitchers and their teams to reduce the risk of surgeries.

Some are common sense, including communication, education and preparation. The most surprising recommendation: "Do not always pitch with 100 percent effort." The point: "The professional pitcher's objectives are to prevent baserunners and runs, not to light up the radar gun."

Tell that to a prospect pitching in front of scouts holding radar guns. Or a youngster trying to pitch as much as he can and as hard as he can to get noticed. The popular response to the rash of Tommy John surgeries, to which Andrews subscribes, is suggesting kids are pitching too much without taking time off.

"This is the first wave of the generation of major-leaguers who pitched on year-round travel teams," said former A's pitching coach Rick Peterson, who has worked with Andrews through the institute and is the Orioles' director of pitching development. "This (Tommy John outbreak) is the result of what we're getting."

Griffin, who led A's starters last season with 200 innings, defended pitching year-round as a kid. He started at 13 or 14 and focused almost exclusively on baseball in high school.

"I got here because I played year-round. It's how you get good at pitching," said Griffin, who had his operation April 30, one month after teammate Parker's second Tommy John surgery.

"Everyone's saying these guys are getting hurt because they pitched so much when they were younger. If they didn't, they probably wouldn't be here."

Griffin's travel-ball schedule wasn't always monitored to limit his pitch counts. He grew up in San Diego, an ideal climate for year-round baseball, and remembers pitching two complete games in one weekend.

"They called me up, and I'd go," he said. "It's how everyone used to be. If you're good, people will call. They'll say, 'We'll pay for you to come to Georgia with us.' "

Older pitchers didn't necessarily experience such a grind in their youth. Affeldt, 35, is from Washington state, where year-round baseball wasn't an option. He didn't throw a curve until high school. Like most big-leaguers, Affeldt has had his share of injuries, some on the fluky side, but never went on the DL with an arm ailment.

"It seems every young kid coming up is throwing near 100 (mph) with a cutter at 94, putting a lot of torque on those ligaments," Affeldt said. "You can't say a whole lot. They're in the big leagues because of the pitches they throw, but it's also the reason they're getting blown out. Kind of a catch-22."

Giants pitcher Tim Hudson, 38, didn't start pitching until his junior year in high school, which he said is a reason for his longevity. He's in his 16th season.

"I just think wear and tear catches up on everybody," he said. "I don't care how much you're working out, how much you're treated or iced. Physiologically, you're going to wear down with that ligament until at one point it's going to give."

Hudson had Tommy John surgery in 2008. He was 33 and cited a mechanical flaw - putting extra stress on his elbow to compensate for a sore shoulder. He felt it on a split-fingered fastball to Dan Uggla. Hudson admitted he could have had a wear-and-tear issue, but nothing like young pitchers experience nowadays.

"The parents need to be smart. The parents need to be educated," Hudson said. "That's your child out there. You have the final say what your kid can and can't do regardless of what the coach says.

"Things are getting too sport-specific for kids. They need to develop their bodies in other sports. Play football, play basketball, run track. Do other things, because baseball is so one-side dominant. You throw and swing on one side. Your body needs to develop other athletic muscles to help you not get hurt."

On the other hand, it's not unusual for big-league pitchers to credit their loaded baseball schedule as youths for getting them to the majors. Griffin said he doesn't believe the rash of elbow surgeries is a direct result of travel-ball pitching and cited the trend for pitchers using weight training to amp up their numbers on radar guns.

"For anyone to say this is why it's happening, they don't know," Griffin said. "It could be one of 10 different reasons. Each person is different. We're trying to throw a ball as hard as we can for 100 pitches. It's not natural, and you have this little ligament. It's going to happen."

Tommy John surgeries

Number of professional baseball players who had elbow ligament replacement surgery in each of the past 10 years. There has been an average of 51 such surgeries per year during that stretch, a number that has already been exceeded in the first six months of 2014.